example of banking deal
E.g. We assisted the lead banks on a USD 25 billion acquisition loan facility for British American Tobacco, to back the USD 49.4 billion acquisition of the 57.8% stake in U.S. peer Reynolds American Inc. which it did not already own. This was the largest deal in the European syndicated loan markets in 2017.
corporate m&a summary
public takeovers, private m&a and international equity offerings
transactional deals combined with areas such as commercial, environment, employment
§ 21st cent Fox bidding for Sky. Disney made bid for Fox
§ Comcast made bid for Sky and work
§ Fox sold shares to Comcast - this is what A&o advised on
international capital markets
§ Focus on markets where people raise and invest money
§ Regulatory demands = important
§ E.g. bonds & short and long-term debt
§ Behind start up that launched world’s first crypto-currency bond
§ Took place in innovation space, Fuse
§ Changed bond market
2 main categories of law
○ Transactional law - bring people together
○ Litigation - resolving differences
response to rona
- Maintaining client service and remote working
○ Using technology to support working from home
○ Secure network- International travel
○ Video conferencing - Meetings and events
○ Cancelled conferences and in-person client events
○ virtual
- International travel
client relations
- Come to them with challenging deals
- Every client = unique. Need personalised solutions
- Think radically in their investment in legal services
○ Non-traditional services inc. document review, online legal service (derivative services - subscription), contract lawyers (peerpoint) and legal consulting hybrid solutions - Advanced Delivery & Service
Consulting, doc revie
training
- Core transactional areas: banking, corporate and international capital markets
○ You do at least two of these- Litigation course or litigation seat
- Professional Skills course with three compulsory modules:
○ Client care and professional standards
○ Advocacy and communication
○ Financial and business skills - Large trainee intake - community feel
- Seats pair you with senior associate or partner
- 73% of work involves two or more jurisdictions
- 80% of trainees have international or client secondment e.g. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley
4 x 6 month rotations
fuse
- Start up incubator, Fuse - partnership with tech companies
○ Fuse is designed to bring forward-thinking tech companies together with clients and A&O experts to develop practical solutions to legal, regulatory and deal-related issues.
○ Space for trainees to experiment with new technology
○ 3 key areas: legaltech (legal advice, in-house legal functions etc.), regtech (regulatory compliance) and dealtech (helping with negotiation of deals)
iflex
- New management system - flexible working via iFlex
○ Global informal working policy
resourcing options
- Resourcing options inc. Peerpoint and aosphere
○ Peerpoint connects consultant lawyers with organisations - can apply to join A&O peerpoint panel as consultant
○ Aosphere = online subscription platform for legal/compliance teams inc. reports on cross-border marketing, international data transfers, shareholding disclosure etc.
digital hub
- Digital Hub
○ Looking at issues like impact of coronavirus on data protection
○ And future of M&A with covid
§ Fintech m&a has slowed (see article in other section)
personality types
○ Taking risks and challenges
○ Looking for next big step
○ Sees opportunities in trying new things
○ Open-minded, innovative, collaborative, critical thinking
○ Need ambition, determination
inclusive culture - women
○ 45% of partner promotions = women
Top employer for women in UK - times top 50 employers for women
pro bono
○ Social justice
○ 44,000 hours of pro bono
○ Community Investment programmes
○ Human rights working group
○ Social finance and impact investment group - internal and external awareness
○ Environmental sustainability - reducing CO2 omissions and carbon footprint
○ Environmental policy statement
§ Natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions
○ Hope & Homes for Children
mental health
- Mind Matter programme - mental health
○ Wellbeing apps
○ Trainees have own mental health network
○ Mindful Leader training
